Method and device for unloading items of washing from a treatment machine

ABSTRACT

In the method for unloading items of laundry from a spin-dryer or washer-dryer (20) which has a perforated operating drum (21) and a drum housing (22) with an end-side unloading opening (26) which can be closed by means of a door (27), after the spin-drying process is finished, the operating drum (21) is set to a speed at which the centrifugal force acting on the items of laundry is still somewhat greater than the force of gravity. The door (27) of the drum housing (22) is opened. The pipe of a suction conveying system is connected to the unloading opening (26) of the drum housing (22). The suction conveying system is activated, and on the drum housing (22) the closure member (29) of an air inlet opening, which is arranged on the peripheral wall, is opened. The method can also be used analogously in tumble-dryers. The device for carrying out the method has the device parts mentioned.

When items of laundry of the most varied type are being washed orcleaned, the washing dentro de la zona 34 or cleaning process isgenerally followed by a further number of treatment cycles, such as, forexample, spin-drying, drying, ironing, stacking and the like. This alsoapplies to items of laundry which after being washed are pressed dry ina drying press, for which purpose the very compact bundle of laundryfirst has to be separated before the items of laundry can be treatedfurther.

Items of laundry are understood here as being all types of textile andnontextile articles which are washed, cleaned, spun dry, dried andotherwise further treated, such as, for example, underwear, shirts,trousers, dresses, overalls, aprons, bed linen, but also cloths, mops,rubber gloves, loose plastic covers and the like.

In each of the abovementioned treatment stations the items of laundryhave to be removed from the machine after the treatment processconcerned is finished, i.e. the machine has to be unloaded so that theitems of laundry can be transported to the next treatment station. Forthis purpose, the items of laundry are generally removed by hand fromthe treatment machine concerned and placed into a transporting containeror placed onto a transporting device and transported thereby to the nexttreatment station. This is relatively laborious and time-consuming andrequires expensive transporting means and transporting devices which,moreover, are susceptible to mishaps and wear and require acorrespondingly high outlay on maintenance. When soft items of laundry,for example cotton underwear, are being processed, a further additionaldisadvantage frequently occurs during the spin-drying in that, at highspin-drying speeds, parts of the items of laundry resting directlyagainst the perforated peripheral wall of the operating drum are pressedinto the nozzle-shaped perforations and sometimes even emerge outsidethe latter and relax again, i.e. swell up somewhat, outside theperforation. The unloading of such items of laundry requires anadditional, comparatively great effort to be exerted by the attendantand considerably increases the time required. These circumstances impedeautomatic transfer from the spin-drying machine to the next treatmentmachine.

An attempt has already been made to automate the removal of the items oflaundry from the spin-drying machine by only operating the spin-dryingdrum at a relatively low spin-drying speed so that the items of laundrydo not adhere so strongly to the drum wall. To unload the spin-dryingdrum, the spin-drying machine is tilted toward the end-side unloadingopening and the spin-drying drum is either continuously rotated in onedirection or rotated to and fro in both directions, specifically at arelatively low speed, in order to detach the items of laundry so thatthey can then fall out through the downwardly inclined unloadingopening. However, this requires a very high outlay on the constructionfor the spin-drying machine and the pivoting mechanism. The connectinglines all have to be of flexible design. The space required for aspin-drying machine of this type is greater than in the case of a fixedspin-drying machine.

When items of laundry are cleaned, i.e. when the items of laundry are"washed" in a cleaning fluid, which in the following text is called thedetergent, the items of laundry are treated in a cleaning machine whichis of similar design to a washing machine or a washer-dryer, i.e. inwhich the drum housing can be closed in a liquidtight manner for thecleaning operation. After the cleaning process is finished, thedetergent is removed. However, the items of laundry are still soakedwith a considerable amount of the detergent. Since this detergent andits vapors are damaging to health, the detergent has first to becompletely removed from the items of laundry before the cleaning machinemay be opened and the items of laundry can be removed and supplied toother stations for further treatment. In general, some of the detergentremaining is removed by a spin-drying process. In this case, however,the spin-drying speed selected cannot be very high because of the the[sic] susceptibility of some types of laundry to crease. The portion ofdetergent which is still present after this process is removed by adrying process by a circulating airflow being passed through thecleaning machine, from which airflow the liquid and vaporous portions ofdetergent can be taken off in a downstream condenser and/or anabsorption filter.

Since the cleaning machine primarily serves to clean the items oflaundry in a liquid bath, the detergent, it is, similarly to a washingmachine, of very compact construction, i.e. the operating drum and thedrum housing have a relatively small void volume so that a large amountof detergent does not have to be used for a cleaning process. For thedrying of the items of laundry after the spin-drying process, the smallvoid volume of the operating drum is of disadvantage because the itemsof laundry can only separate to a small extent therein. Accordingly, thedrying phase in the cleaning drum is very long, to be precise, isgenerally markedly longer than the cleaning phase. In addition, evenafter the detergent has been completely removed, unloading of thecleaning machine is made more difficult because the items of laundry, intheir now separated state, fill the interior of the operating drum to avery large extent.

The invention is based on the object of specifying a method and devicesin which after a treatment process is finished, the items of laundry canbe unloaded from the treatment machine concerned in an easier and moresimple manner than before. Another object of the present invention is toovercome the drawbacks of the prior art.

By virtue of the fact that in the washing or washer-drying methodaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention, after thespin-drying process is finished the operating drum is set to a speedwhich is lower than the spin-drying speed but nevertheless issufficiently high for the centrifugal force exerted by it on the itemsof laundry to be greater, by a certain amount, than the force ofgravity, the items of laundry furthermore rest against the peripheralwall of the operating drum as they circulate. The door of the end-sideunloading opening can therefore be opened without the items of laundryfalling out of the unloading opening. The pipe of a suction conveyingsystem can thereby also be connected to the open unloading opening ofthe drum housing without interference from the items of laundry. If thesuction conveying system is activated, either by the suction systemitself being switched on or, when the suction conveying system is inoperation, by a shut-off member being opened in the pipe, and if thenthe air inlet opening, which is arranged on the peripheral wall of thedrum housing, is additionally opened, there is produced within the drumhousing a strong airflow which passes from the air inlet opening throughthose perforations of the operating drum which rotate precisely past theregion of said opening, to the unloading opening and moves into thepipe. As a result, in the region of the air inlet opening a third forceacts on the items of laundry situated right there, which force isgreater than the excess force between the centrifugal force and theforce of gravity, and which thereby detaches these items of laundry fromthe peripheral wall of the operating drum. As soon as these items oflaundry are detached from the operating drum, they are no longersubjected to the centrifugal force but just to the force of gravity andthe shearing force of the airflow of the suction conveying system. Thisairflow conveys the laundry to the unloading opening and into the pipeconnected thereto and in the latter conveys it further to a furthertreatment station connected thereto.

Continuous or intermittent opening, and also opening to a varyingextent, of the air inlet opening on the drum housing makes it possibleto vary the flow rate of the air flowing in and hence also the flow rateof the detached items of laundry, and thus to take into account thedifferent adhesive capacity of the different types of laundry. In thecase of intermittent opening, there is also the possibility of varyingthe duration of the opening phase and the duration of the closing phase.As a result, it is possible, on the one hand, to optimize the unloadingprocess above all in terms of time and to minimize the energyconsumption required for the suction conveying system, and, on the otherhand, to ensure that the unloading opening of the drum housing is notblocked by too great a flow rate of the items of laundry.

By virtue of the fact that in the case of the drying method according toa second embodiment of the preset invention or in the case of theseparating method according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention, after the drying process or the separating process isfinished, the operating drum is set to a speed which is higher than thespeed for drying or separating and which is at least sufficiently highfor the centrifugal force exerted by it on the items of laundry to begreater than the force of gravity, the items of laundry can no longerfall from the wall of the operating drum into the interior of theoperating drum, as was previously and desirably the case. Instead, theitems of laundry place themselves against the inside of the operatingdrum. The unloading opening of the drum housing can therefore be openedwithout the items of laundry prematurely falling out. After the pipe isconnected and the suction conveying system switched on, it is true thata certain, diffuse airflow is produced within the operating drum.However, this is not sufficiently strong to detach the items of laundryfrom the peripheral wall of the operating drum counter to thecentrifugal force acting on them, as long as the speed of said force isset sufficiently high. The latter is therefore very important becauseafter the drying and separating, the items of laundry are in any casevigorously scattered and separated from each other and therefore providean airflow with a large application surface. Only after the air inletopening on the drum housing is opened is there produced, in the regionthereof, a targeted airflow whose shearing force is sufficient to exceedthe excess force between the centrifugal force and the force of gravityand to detach the items of laundry situated precisely in this regionfrom the peripheral wall of the operating drum and to subsequentlyconvey them to the unloading opening and into the pipe.

By virtue of the fact that in the cleaning method according to a fourthembodiment of the present invention after the cleaning method isfinished--the operating drum is set to a speed which is sufficientlyhigh for the centrifugal force exerted by it on the items of laundry tobe greater than the force of gravity, the items of laundry placethemselves against the drum wall or remain close against the drum wall.After the pipe is connected and the suction conveying system is switchedon, the unloading opening of the drum housing can be opened without theitems of laundry all passing at the same time into the pipe and blockingthe latter, and without liquid or vaporous portions of the detergentstill present in the items of laundry being able to pass into thesurroundings. Only after the air inlet opening of the circulating-airsystem is opened is there produced, in the region thereof, a targetedairflow whose shearing force is sufficient to exceed the excess forcebetween the centrifugal force and the force of gravity and to detach theitems of laundry situated precisely in this region from the peripheralwall of the operating drum and to subsequently convey them to theunloading opening and into the pipe. This enables the items of laundry,which are still full of detergent, to be conveyed, in an environmentallyfriendly manner and without causing work for the attendant,pneumatically into a dryer whose relatively large void volume is bettersuited for the drying process than the cleaning machine itself. Thelatter can, for its part, be more rapidly used again as a cleaningmachine, in the narrow sense of the word, and can thus be operated moreeconomically. In a further embodiment, after the cleaning process isfinished, the operating drum can be set to a second operating speedwhich serves as the spin-drying speed for spin-drying the items oflaundry.

By means of a refinement of the method according to a fifth embodimentof the present invention, the first unloading speed has the effect thatduring the opening of the unloading opening of the drum housing, andduring the connection of the pipe, the items of laundry are definitelyheld fast against the peripheral wall of the operating drum, and thesecond unloading speed has the effect that the items of laundry thenonly still rest against the peripheral wall of the operating drum withsuch a low excess of centrifugal force that the airflow produced in theregion of the air inlet opening, after the suction conveying system isswitched on, in turn suffices to detach the items of laundry in thisregion from the operating drum. If, toward the end of the unloadingprocess, the operating drum is additionally set to a third unloadingspeed whose centrifugal force effect is at most equal to the force ofgravity, then the last items of laundry still remaining stuck in theoperating drum can also be detached from it in order to be conveyed awayby the airflow of the suction conveying system.

By means of a refinement of the method for drying or for separatinglaundry according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention,secondary airflows, which could unfavorably affect the main airflow fordetaching the items of laundry from the operating drum and for conveyingthem away, are avoided or at least reduced.

A refinement of the method for cleaning according to a seventhembodiment of the present invention also enables the last items oflaundry which possibly still remain stuck in the operating drum to bedetached from it in order to be conveyed away by the airflow of thesuction conveying system.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a device forunloading items of laundry which includes a spin-dryer or washer-dryerhaving a perforated operating drum and a drum housing having an end-sideunloading opening which can be closed by means of a closure member. Thedrum housing has an air inlet opening on a peripheral wall. A closuremember is also provided by which the air inlet opening of the drumhousing can be closed, in an air-tight and water-tight manner, and canbe released. The device may include a pipe which can be connected at oneend to a suction conveying system and which can be connected at theother end to the unloading opening of the drum housing. A control forthe drive of the operating drum is provided, by which the operating drumcan be set to at least two speeds, the first speed of which serves asthe operating speed for spin-drying the items of laundry, and the secondspeed of which, as the unloading speed, produces a centrifugal force onthe items of laundry which is greater, by a specified amount, than theforce of gravitational acceleration.

In the case of a refinement of the devices according to a furtherembodiment of the present invention, the shearing force of the airflowacts at least approximately in the same direction as the force ofgravity. In a refinement according to a further embodiment of thepresent invention the effect that the items of laundry which are placedaway from the unloading opening are first grasped and detached by theairflow and so dead spaces having items of laundry remaining behind areavoided. By virtue of the airflow running approximately diagonallythrough the interior of the operating drum, the items of laundry areconveyed over the shortest distance to the unloading opening and areconveyed out through the latter. In this case, the swirling motions ofthe airflow and of the items of laundry entrained therein ensure thateven those items of laundry which rest outside the region of the airinlet opening and against the inner wall of the operating drum nearer tothe unloading opening are gradually detached and conveyed away.

A refinement according to the present invention enables the unloadingprocess to be mechanized and automated to a large extent.

A further refinement according to the present invention provides a verytightly closing closure member for the unloading opening of the drumhousing and is particularly suitable for spin-dryers or washer-dryers.It is a further refinement of the present invention to require only arelatively small installation space for the closure member and also onlya very small operating space. Such a refinement, which is primarilysuitable for tumble-dryers and separating machines, also makes itpossible for the pipe of the suction conveying system to be continuouslyconnected to the unloading opening if the drum housing and the operatingdrum has [sic] a loading opening on the other end side.

A further aspect of the present invention is to provide, in addition tothe unloading opening, which because of the pipe connection of thesuction conveying system can only be provided with a limited diameterfor fluidic reasons, a substantially larger loading opening throughwhich loading of the machine concerned by hand is made more simple andeasy.

A refinement according to another aspect of the present invention hasthe effect, both in the case of the cleaning machine and also in thecase of the tumble-dryer provided with a sliding device as closuremember of the unloading opening, or in the case of the correspondinglydesigned separating machine, that items of laundry which accidentallypass into the connecting duct, which is unavoidable for design reasons,between the inner edge of the unloading opening and the closure member,do not settle there but can slip back again into the operating drum.

In a refinement according to another aspect of the present invention,the opening and closing of the unloading opening can be mechanized andautomated. The same is true for a refinement of the devices forconnecting and decoupling the pipe of the suction conveying system.

In a further aspect of the present invention to provide a device thatmakes it possible also to automate the setting of the speeds of theoperating drum to the various operating requirements.

A refinement according to a further aspect of the present inventionmakes it possible, toward the end of the unloading process, for theoperating drum to be set to an unloading speed whose centrifugal forceacting on the items of laundry is at most equal to the force of gravity,with the result that items of laundry possibly still adhering to theoperating drum can become detached from it in order to be conveyed awayby the airflow of the suction conveying system.

With a refinement of the dryer or of the separating machine according toanother aspect of the present invention, the occurrence of inleaked airduring unloading can be avoided or at least reduced.

A refinement of the devices according to another aspect of the presentinvention also makes it possible to fully automatically controlvirtually the entire operating sequence of the device concerned.

The invention is explained in more detail in the following text withreference to an exemplary embodiment, illustrated in the drawing, ofeach of the three treatment machines. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a washer-dryer;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the washer-dryer with a side wall removed;

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the washer-dryer with the top removed;

FIG. 4 shows a front view of the washer-dryer with front end wallsremoved;

FIG. 5 shows a side view of the washer-dryer with a side wall removedand having a pipe of a suction conveying system connected;

FIG. 6 shows a front view of the washer-dryer with front end wallsremoved and having a pipe (shown partially) in the unloading operatingstate;

FIG. 7 shows a plan view of the washer-dryer with the top removed in thesame operating state as in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows a side view of the washer-dryer in the same operating stateas in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 shows a front view of a tumble-dryer in the drying operatingstate;

FIG. 10 shows a plan view of the tumble-dryer with the top removed;

FIG. 11 shows a front view of the tumble-dryer with front end wallsremoved in an operating state between drying and unloading;

FIG. 12 shows a side view of the tumble-dryer with a side wall removedand with a pipe of a suction conveying system connected;

FIG. 13 shows a front view of the tumble-dryer with front end wallsremoved in the unloading operating state;

FIG. 14 shows a plan view of the tumble-dryer with the upper partremoved in the same operating state as in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 shows a front view of a cleaning machine;

FIG. 16 shows a partially cut-away side view of the cleaning machine;

FIG. 17 shows a plan view of the cleaning machine with the top removed;

FIG. 18 shows a partially cut-away side view of the cleaning machinewith a pipe of a suction conveying system connected, before theunloading process begins;

FIG. 19 shows a side view as in FIG. 18 during the unloading process.

The washer-dryer 20 which can be seen in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 has, in theusual manner, a perforated operating drum 21 which is accommodated inthe center of a drum housing 22 and is mounted rotably therein by meansof a bearing block 23. The drive of the operating drum is indicated by aV-belt pulley 24. All of these parts are accommodated in a box-shapedmachine housing 25.

The drum housing 22 has, on its front end side, a circular loading andunloading opening which is only called unloading opening 26 below forshort. This unloading opening 26 is closed in the customary manner by apivoting door 27 and at the same time is secured against water emerging.

As can be seen in FIG. 6, the drum housing 22 has an air inlet opening28 which can closed, in an airtight and watertight manner, by means of aclosure member in the form of a closure flap 29. The air inlet opening28 is arranged in the upper part of the drum housing 22, to be precise,in front of the apex line of the drum housing 22 in the direction of therotational movement of the operating drum 21. In the axial direction,the air inlet opening 28 extends over a longitudinal section of the drumhousing, which longitudinal section at least approximately begins atthat rear end wall 31 of the operating drum 21 which is remote from theunloading opening 26 and which ends at a specified amount in front ofthat front end wall 32 of the operating drum 21 which is adjacent to theunloading opening 26 (FIG. 2). In general, the axial extent of theclosure flap 29 is somewhat larger than half the axial extent of thedrum housing 22.

The door 27 of the unloading opening 26 is coupled to a locking device33 by means of which the door 27 can be locked and unlockedmechanically. In addition, the door 27 is coupled to an actuating device34 by means of which the door 27 can be brought mechanically into theclosed position (FIG. 1) and into an open position (FIG. 4).

In a similar manner, the closure flap 29 of the air inlet opening 28 iscoupled to an actuating device 35 by means of which the closure flap 29can be closed and opened, this actuating device 35 expediently beingdesigned in such a manner that the closure flap 29 can be set todifferent open positions having a different passage cross section.Depending on the type of actuating device 35, it may be expedient alsoto couple the closure flap 29 to a locking device 36 in order to ensuresufficient tightness of the closure flap 29.

For the unloading, in particular for the fully automatic unloading, ofthe washer-dryer 20 there is furthermore a suction conveying system 37,of which only the end section of the associated pipe 38 can be seen inFIG. 5 to FIG. 8. Said pipe is connected at a given time to theunloading opening 26 of the drum housing 22. Expediently, for this pipe38 there is provided a guide device (not shown) by means of which it canbe guided to the unloading opening 26 of the drum housing 22 and can bepressed thereon and by means of which the pipe 38 can be guided awayfrom the unloading opening 26 again back into a rest position in whichthe pipe 38 is situated outside the path of movement of the door 27. Itis furthermore expedient to couple the pipe 38 to an actuating device(likewise not shown) which mechanically causes the pipe 38 to be guidedtoward and pressed onto the unloading opening 26 and to be guided backinto its rest position.

The washer-dryer 20 is fitted with a control (not shown) by means ofwhich the drive of the operating drum 21 is switched on and off and isset to a certain speed in the individual operating stages, as isexplained in more detail below. In addition, the locking device 33 andthe actuating device 34 of the door 27 and also the actuating device 35and, if appropriate, the locking device 36 of the closure flap 29 of theair inlet opening 27 are switched on and off and, if appropriate, areset to certain positions by this control.

When the pivoting door 27 is opened, the washer-dryer 20 is loaded withitems of laundry. After the pivoting door 27 is closed, the washer-dryer20 is switched on. Its control ensures the automatic operation of theentire washing and spin-drying program, which had previously been set.

In the following, the procedure starts from the fact that the items oflaundry, which have already been washed and spun dry, are furtherprocessed or treated in other treatment stations, for example, they aredried in a tumble-dryer, in order to be folded and stored somewhatlater. For this purpose, the items of laundry have to be unloaded, asautomatically as possible, from the washer-dryer and conveyed further tothe next treatment station.

During the spin-drying, the items of laundry 39 (FIG. 4) are pressedagainst the peripheral wall of the operating drum 21 by the centrifugalforce acting on them and in the process are also pressed together, sothat they form a relatively compact circular ring which adheres to avarying extent, depending on the type of laundry, to the perforated wallof the operating drum 21. These items of laundry, which are designatedby 39.1, also hold together to a certain extent.

To unload these items of laundry 39.1, the operating drum 21 is set bythe control to a first unloading speed which is lower than thespin-drying speed but is nevertheless sufficiently high for thecentrifugal force acting on the items of laundry 39.1 to be greater, bya specified amount, than the force of gravity. Under the effect of thisexcess force, the items of laundry 39.1 remain adhering to theperipheral wall of the operating drum 21 even at the vertex of itscirculating path.

In this operating state of the operating drum 21, the pivoting door 27is opened (FIG. 4). As a consequence of the sufficiently highcentrifugal force, the items of laundry 39.1 remain in the circular bondand do not fall out of the unloading opening 26 which is now open.

The pipe 38 of the suction conveying system 37 is guided by means of itsguide device and actuating device (not shown) up to the unloadingopening 26 and is pressed onto the edge thereof (FIG. 5). If the suctionconveying system 37 is actuated by it either being switched on or by, inthe case of the suction conveying system already being in operation, ashut-off member in the pipe 38 being opened, a vacuum is produced at theunloading opening 26. By means of the control, the closure flap 29 ofthe air inlet opening 28 of the drum housing 22 is opened (FIG. 6). Thistakes place either intermittently or continuously, it being possible forthe closure flap 29 to be set to an air inlet cross section which is ofdiffering size and which additionally can also be varied. As aconsequence of the vacuum produced in the operating drum 21 by thesuction conveying system 37, air from the surroundings flows through theair inlet opening 28 into the drum housing 22 and further through theperforations in the operating drum 21 into the interior thereof, as isshown in FIG. 6 by the arrow 41. In the process, there is produced inthe region of the air inlet opening 28 an airflow whose shearing forceis sufficiently great that it exceeds the excess force between thecentrifugal force and the force of gravity and, as a result, detachesthe items of laundry 39.2 situated in the region of the air inletopening 28 from the wall of the operating drum 21 and thereby removesthem from the circular bond of the items of laundry 39.1 resting on thedrum, and conveys them to the unloading opening 26 and subsequently intothe pipe 38, as is shown in FIG. 6 to FIG. 8 by the arrows 42 and 43.

When the items of laundry 39.2 are being detached in the region of theair inlet opening 28 and on their way to the unloading opening 26, atleast some of the detached items of laundry also scrape along thoseitems of laundry which are still resting, in the same meridian plane,nearer to the front end wall 32 of the operating drum 21, against theperipheral wall thereof, and likewise detach these items of laundry fromthe operating drum. This entraining effect is further assisted by theitems of laundry 39.1 at least partially overlapping one another intheir circular bond and the detached items of laundry 39.2 therefore atleast separate those items of laundry which rest on them or are woundaround them to a greater or lesser extent. It is therefore veryimportant for the control to match the first unloading speed and thestrength of the airflow flowing in through the air inlet opening 28 toone another in such a manner that the amount of items of laundrydetached at the same time is not so great that the unloading opening 26becomes blocked. However, the matching should also be such that thedetaching and conveying away of the items of laundry does not last toolong and that thereby an unnecessarily large amount of energy is used,in particular by the suction conveying system, and an unnecessarily longtime passes until the unloading process and thus also of the conveyingprocess is finished.

If those items of laundry 39.1 which rest on the front longitudinalsection of the operating drum 21 are not sufficiently separated and thendetached and entrained by those items of laundry 39.2 which are alreadydetached and are scraping by, this strongly depending on the type oflaundry, it is then expedient to set the operating drum 21, toward theend of the unloading process, to a second unloading speed which producesa centrifugal force on the items of laundry 39.1 which is at most equalto, better even somewhat smaller than, the force of gravity. Thedetaching of these items of laundry 39.1 by the force of gravity whichthen predominates, at least in the region of the vertex, is thenfacilitated, with the result that these items of laundry can also beunloaded.

The tumble-dryer 50 which can be seen in FIG. 9 to FIG. 13 has, in theusual manner, a perforated operating drum 51 which is accommodated in adrum housing 52 and is mounted rotatably therein by means of a bearingblock 53 (FIG. 10). The drive of the operating drum 51 is indicated by aV-belt pulley 54. All of these parts are accommodated in a box-shapedmachine housing 55.

On its front end side, the drum housing 52 has a circular loading andunloading opening which is only called an unloading opening 56 below forshort. This unloading opening 56 is closed in the customary manner by apivoting door 57 which is mounted pivotably on the machine housing 55.

Similarly to the washer-dryer 20, the drum housing 52 has an air inletopening 58 (FIG. 13) which can be closed by means of a closure member inthe form of a closure flap 59. The air inlet opening 58 is basicallyarranged in the same manner as the air inlet opening 28 of thewasher-dryer and so reference is made to the explanation thereof.Independently of the air inlet opening 28, there are further entry andexit openings on the drum housing 52 and also, outside the drum housing52, there are air-guiding ducts for the drying air, such as, forexample, the air inlet duct 61 through which fresh air can be sucked infrom the surroundings, which fresh air is subsequently passed through aheating system 62 and heated therein before it is passed via a large airentry opening 63 into the interior of the drum housing 52. From there itcan flow through the perforated peripheral wall of the operating drum 51into the interior thereof. In the air inlet duct 61 there is a closuremember in the form of a closure flap 64 by means of which the air inletduct 61 can be closed, if required. The closure flap 64 is coupled to anactuating device (not shown).

The other parts for the circulation of the drying air are of aconventional type. They are not explained in more detail here.

The pivoting door 57 of the unloading opening 56 is coupled to a lockingdevice 65 by means of which the door 57 can be locked and unlockedmechanically. In addition, the door 57 is coupled to an actuating device66 by means of which the door 57 can be brought mechanically into theclosed position (FIG. 9) and into an open position (FIG. 11).

In a similar manner the closure flap 59 of the air inlet opening 58 iscoupled to an actuating device 67 by means of which the closure flap 59can be closed and opened, the actuating device 67 here also beingdesigned in such a manner that the closure flap 59 can be set to variousopen positions having a different passage cross section.

For the unloading, in particular for the fully automatic unloading, ofthe tumble-dryer 50 there is furthermore a suction conveying system 68,of which only the end section of the associated pipe 69 can be seen inFIG. 12 to FIG. 13. This pipe is connected at a given time to theunloading opening 56 of the drum housing 51, the procedure starting fromthe fact that this pipe 69 is provided in the same or at least a similarmanner with a guide device and an actuating device, as has beenexplained in conjunction with the washer-dryer 20.

The tumble-dryer 50 is also provided with a control which is not shownin FIG. 9 to FIG. 14 and which partly acts in the same manner and partlyin a similar manner to the control device of the washer-dryer 20.

With the pivoting door 57 opened, the tumble-dryer 50 is loaded withitems of laundry 39. After the pivoting door 57 is closed, thetumble-dryer 50 is switched on. Its control ensures the automaticoperation of the entire drying program which had been set beforehand.

During the drying process the items of laundry 39 are circulated in theoperating drum 51 and are dried by the drying air wafting through. Inthe process, the items of laundry are separated and scattered to a largeextent. During the drying the operating speed of the operating drum 51is sufficiently low for it to be possible, at least toward the end ofthe drying process, for the separated and scattered items of laundry 39to become detached from the wall of the operating drum 51 and for themto fall through the interior, through which the drying air flows, of theoperating drum 51 if they have been lifted up to a certain extent bycarrier ridges on the inside of the operating drum 51. The separated andscattered items of laundry 39 thereby virtually fill the entire interiorof the operating drum 51, as is shown in FIG. 9.

To unload these items of laundry 39, the operating drum 51 is set by thecontrol to a first unloading speed which is higher than the operatingspeed during drying. This first unloading speed is sufficiently high forthe centrifugal force acting on the items of laundry 39 to be greater,by a specifiable amount, than the force of gravity and, as a result, thepreviously freely moving items of laundry 39 now place themselvesagainst the peripheral wall of the operating drum 51 in a loose,circular bond, as items of laundry 39.1, as is shown in FIG. 11.

In this operating state of the tumble-dryer 50, the pivoting door 57 isopened (FIG. 11). As a result of the sufficiently high centrifugalforce, the items of laundry 39.1 remain in the circular bond and do notfall out of the unloading opening which is now open.

The pipe 69 of the suction conveying system 68 is guided by means of itsguide device and actuating device (not shown) up to the unloadingopening 56 and is pressed onto its edge (FIG. 12). The air entry and airexit openings used in the drying process are closed, as is shown usingthe example of the closure flap 64 in the air inlet duct 61 (FIG. 11).

Before or after the suction conveying system 68 is activated, theoperating drum 51 is expediently set to a second unloading speed inwhich the force excess of the centrifugal force over the force ofgravity is smaller than in the case of the first unloading speed, butwhich nevertheless is so large that, when the closure flap 59 on the airinlet opening 58 is subsequently opened, the items of laundry 39.1 arenot detached in a relatively great amount from the peripheral wall ofthe operating drum 51 and conveyed to the unloading opening 56 and blockthe latter. Otherwise, reference is made to the explanations for theunloading process in the case of the washer-dryer 20. That also includesthe information that it may be expedient to set the operating drum 51,toward the end of the unloading process, to a further, a third unloadingspeed at which the centrifugal force is smaller than the force ofgravity, in order also to detach the last items of laundry 39 and toconvey them away.

A separating machine is used to separate the laundry bundles, which havebeen pressed in a press and have thereby been freed from a large portionof the washing water, so that they can subsequently be further treated.Such separating machines are largely of identical or similar design to atumble-dryer, with the exception that the air circulated in theseparating machine is not heated and therefore only a considerablyinferior drying effect occurs. Apart from this, the separating machineis operated and unloaded in the same manner as the previously describedtumble-dryer, so that reference can be made to this extent to thepreceding explanations with regard to the tumble-dryer 50.

Unlike in the case of a spin-drying machine or a washer-dryer, in thecase of tumble-dryers and separating machines the drum housing is not ofwatertight design. Therefore, a pivoting door which produces a good sealfor the drum housing via the customary, flexible rubber collar, is notnecessarily required as a closure member for the unloading opening. Inthe case of a tumble-dryer or a separating machine, as the closuremember of the unloading opening use can therefore also be made of asliding device which without special measures is not necessarilywatertight. The sliding-device housing is then generally connectedfixedly to the machine housing or to the drum housing. This also resultsin the possibility of connecting the pipe of the suction conveyingsystem continuously to the sliding-device housing, if the tumble-dryeror the separating machine has its own loading opening on the other endside, because the operating drum is mounted rotatably by means ofbearings arranged on the periphery rather than by means of a centralbearing block.

The cleaning machine 70 which can be seen in FIG. 15 to FIG. 19 servesto "wash" items of laundry in a cleaning fluid. Since these cleaningfluids, which are called detergents below for short, are generallyharmful to health and are environmentally unfriendly, during thecleaning process the cleaning machine has to be completely closed, as isthe case for a washer-dryer. After the cleaning process is finished,however, the items of laundry still contain a relatively large amount ofdetergent. The unloading of these items of laundry from the cleaningmachine has therefore to be modified with respect to the unloadingprocess in the case of a washer-dryer. Accordingly, the cleaning machineitself is also partially modified with respect to a washer-dryer, forexample, with respect to the washer-dryer 20.

In accordance with the washer-dryer 20, the cleaning machine 70 has aperforated operating drum 71 which is accommodated centrally in a drumhousing 72 and is mounted rotatably therein by means of the bearingblock 73. The drive of the operating drum 71 is illustrated by theV-belt pulley 74. All of these parts are accommodated in a box-shapedmachine housing 75.

On its front end side, the drum housing 72 has a circular loadingopening 76. As in the case of the washer-dryer 20, this loading openingis closed by a pivoting door 77 and is at the same time sealed againstdetergent emerging. Unlike in the case of the washer-dryer 20, thecleaning machine 70 has a separate unloading opening 78 which isarranged on the pivoting door 77, in the central region thereof. Thisunloading opening 78 is closed and opened by means of a sliding device79. The sliding device 79 as a whole is continuously connected to thepivoting door 77 and is pivoted together with the latter away from thedrum housing 72 when the loading opening 76 is opened in order to loadthe cleaning machine 70 with items of laundry.

Since the pivoting door 77 protrudes, with its central part, into theloading opening 76 of the drum housing 72 and only rests on the rubbercollar further to the rear, the unloading opening 78 is also situatedbehind the loading opening 76. In contrast, since the sliding device 79,owing to its relatively large dimensions caused by design, can only bearranged in front of the pivoting door and in front of the front endwall of the machine housing 75, a connecting tube 82 is fitted betweenthe inner edge 81 of the unloading opening 78 and the sliding device 79.The connecting tube has connected to it the sliding-device housing 83 ofthe sliding device 79 in which the sliding element 84 is guideddisplaceably between a closed position (FIG. 16 and FIG. 18) and an openposition (FIG. 19). The outside of the sliding-device housing 83 hasfurthermore connected to it a short connecting stub 85 to which the pipe86 of the suction conveying system 87 is connected (FIG. 18).

The sliding element 84 is actuated via a connecting rod 88 by anactuating device 89 which is designed as a double-acting, pneumatic orhydraulic piston drive. However, it may also be designed as a spindledrive.

As for the washer-dryer 20, in the case of the cleaning machine 70 thedrum housing 72 has an air inlet opening 91 which can be closed andopened by means of a closure flap 92. The closure flap 92 is actuated bymeans of an actuating device 93 and is additionally locked in the closedstate by means of a locking device 94.

The connecting duct 82 between the inner edge 81 of the unloadingopening 78 and the sliding device 79 rises from the inner edge 81 as faras the sliding device 79 at a certain angle of inclination. As a result,the connecting duct 82 has a downward slope toward the operating drum71, which downward slope has the effect that items of laundry whichaccidentally fall out of the operating drum, as it circulates, into theconnecting duct 82 automatically slide back into the operating drumagain so that they are not eliminated from the circulating movement ofthe items of laundry in the operating drum 71. The connecting stub 85 onthe outside has the same inclination as the connecting duct 82. However,the connecting stub 85 could also be aligned horizontally.

The unloading opening 78 of the cleaning machine 70 is matched to thepipe 86 of the suction conveying system 87. If this unloading opening 78is also to be sufficiently large for loading the cleaning machine, it ispossible to dispense with the pivoting door 77 which is only used tofacilitate the loading process because it enables the loading opening tobe increased in size. The connecting duct 82 can then be connecteddirectly to the drum housing 72. The unloading opening 78 thensimultaneously forms the loading opening of the drum housing and thesliding device 79 forms its closure member. In this case, the controllines and the connecting ducts for the operating means of the actuatingdevice 89 are also simplified.

In the sliding-device housing 83 there is arranged, in the verticalregion of the sliding element 84, which is in the closed position, onthe outwardly placed side, a press-on device (not shown) which pressesthe sliding element 84 in the closed position against an annular bearingsurface of the sliding-device housing 83, which bearing surface isprovided with a sealing element. The sliding device 79 is therebyreliably sealed during the operation of the cleaning system 70.

After the cleaning process is finished, the detergent which is free inthe drum housing 72 is removed. However, the items of laundry situatedin the operating drum 71 are still soaked with detergent. The amount ofdetergent remaining in them depends on the type of laundry. In order toreduce the amount of detergent remaining in the items of laundry, aspin-drying process is generally included in which the spin-dryingspeed, however, is generally lower than the spin-drying speed in awasher-dryer. However, even after such a spin-drying process, the itemsof laundry still contain a residual amount of detergent. These items oflaundry therefore have to be further treated in a closed system, inparticular "dried" in order to remove the detergent without leaving aresidual so that the items of laundry can then be freely handled. This"drying" of the items of laundry expediently takes place in a dryerwhich is better suited to the drying process than the cleaning machine70.

For this purpose, the operating drum 71 is set to a first unloadingspeed which exerts a centrifugal force on the items of laundry which isgreater than the force of gravity. With the sliding device 79 closed asbefore, the pipe 86 of the suction conveying system 77 is tightlyconnected to the connecting stub 85 (FIG. 18). With the sliding device79 closed, the suction conveying system 87 is activated. A vacuum isthereby produced on the outside of the sliding element 84. The press-ondevice of the sliding element is disconnected. The sliding element 84 isthereby lifted up from its bearing surface on the sliding-device housing83. The sliding-device 79 is opened by means of the actuating device 79.As a result, at least some of the detergent vapors present in theoperating drum 71 are extracted and later collected in a condenserand/or an adsorption [sic] filter.

When the closure flap 92 of the inlet opening 91 is opened an airflow isproduced which detaches the items of laundry in the region of the inletopening 91 from the peripheral wall of the operating drum 71 and conveysthem through the unloading opening 78 into the pipe 86. From there theyare conveyed into a dryer which is closed to the outside in a similarmanner to the cleaning machine 70. In this dryer the items of laundryare "dried", i.e. they are completely freed from the detergent which isthen likewise collected in the abovementioned devices.

If the dryer connected downstream of the cleaning machine 70 is ofsimilar design to the tumble-dryer 50, the items of laundry can beunloaded therefrom likewise in a fully automatic manner and supplied tofurther stations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for unloading items of laundry from a spin-dryer or washer-dryer having a perforated operating drum and a drum housing with an end-sided unloading opening which can be closed by a door, comprising:after a spin-drying the items, setting the operating drum to a speedwhich is lower than the spin-drying speed and which nevertheless is sufficiently high for a centrifugal force acting on the items of laundry to be greater, by a specified amount, than the force of gravity, opening the door of the drum housing, connecting a pipe of a suction conveying system to the unloading opening of the drum housing, activating the suction conveying system, and intermittently or continuously opening, to a varying extent, a closure member of an air inlet opening which is arranged on a peripheral wall on the drum housing.
 2. A method for unloading items of laundry from a tumble dryer having a perforated operating drum and a drum housing with an end-side unloading opening which can be closed by a closure member, comprising:after a drying process, setting the operating drum to a speedwhich is higher than the speed for drying and which is at least sufficiently high for a centrifugal force acting on the items of laundry to be greater, by a specified amount, than the force of gravity, opening the closure member of the unloading opening of the drum housing, connecting a pipe of a suction conveying system to the unloading opening of the drum housing, activating the suction conveying system, and intermittently or continuously opening, to a varying extent, a closure member of an air inlet opening which is arranged on a peripheral wall on the drum housing.
 3. A method for unloading items of laundry from a separating machine for separating compacted laundry bundles, which machine has a perforated operating drum and a drum housing with an end-side unloading opening which can be closed by a closure member, comprising:after a loosening process, setting the operating drum to a speedwhich is higher than the speed for separating and which is at least sufficiently high for the centrifugal force acting on the items of laundry to be greater, by a specified amount, than the force of gravity, opening the closure member of the unloading opening of the drum housing, connecting a pipe of a suction conveying system to the unloading opening of the drum housing, activating the suction conveying system, and intermittently or continuously opening, to a varying extent, a closure member of an air inlet opening which is arranged on a peripheral wall on the drum housing.
 4. A method for unloading items of laundry from a cleaning machine which has a perforated operating drum and a drum housing with an end-side unloading opening which can be closed by a closure member, comprising:after a cleaning process, setting the operating drum to a speed which is sufficiently high for a centrifugal force acting on the items of laundry to be greater, by a specified amount, than the force of gravity, connecting a pipe of a suction conveying system to the unloading opening of the drum housing, activating the suction conveying system, opening the closure member of the unloading opening of the drum housing, and intermittently or continuously opening, to a varying extent, a closure member of an air inlet opening which is arranged on a peripheral wall on the drum housing.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein:after the cleaning process is finished, the operating drum is set to a second operating speed which serves as the spin-drying speed for spin-drying the items of laundry.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein:after the main operating process comprising spin-drying, the operating drum is set to two different speeds, specificallyto a first unloading speed, from a time before the closure member of the unloading opening of the drum housing is opened until after the pipe of the suction conveying system is connected, and to a second unloading speed, after the pipe of the suction conveying system is connected until the items of laundry have been unloaded, in the case of the first unloading speed the amount by which the centrifugal force acting on the items of laundry is greater than the force of gravity, is greater than in the case of the second unloading speed, toward the end of the unloading process, the operating drum is set to a third unloading speed which produces a centrifugal force on the items of laundry which is at most equal to the force of gravity.
 7. The method according to claim 2, wherein:at least one intake air ducts and outlet air ducts, which are open during drying and separating, at least one of these ducts is closed before the suction conveying system is switched on.
 8. The method according to claim 4, wherein:toward the end of an unloading process, the operating drum is set to a second unloading speed which produces a centrifugal force on the items of laundry which is at most equal to the force of gravity.
 9. A device for unloading items of laundry according to claim 1, comprising:a spin-dryer or washer-dryer having a perforated operating drum and a drum housing having an end-side unloading opening which can be closed by a closure member, wherein the drum housing has an air inlet opening on a peripheral wall; a closure member by means of which the air inlet opening of the drum housing can be closed, in an air-tight and water-tight manner, and can be released, a pipewhich can be connected at one end to a suction conveying system and which can be connected at the other end to the unloading opening of the drum housing, a control for a drive of the operating drum, by which the operating drum can be set to at least two speeds,the first speed of which serves as an operating speed for spin-drying the items of laundry, and the second speed of which, as the unloading speed, produces a centrifugal force on the items of laundry which is greater, by a specified amount, than the force of gravitational acceleration.
 10. The device according to claim 9, wherein:the air inlet opening is arranged in the upper half of the drum housing, and the air inlet opening is at least partially arranged in front of an apex line of the drum housing in the direction of rotational movement of the operating drum.
 11. The device according to claim 10, wherein:the air inlet opening is completely arranged in front of the apex line of the drum housing in the direction of rotational movement of the operating drum.
 12. The device according to claim 9, wherein:the air inlet opening extends in the axial direction over a longitudinal section of the drum housingwhich longitudinal section at least approximately begins, at the end wall of the operating drum which is remote from the unloading opening, and wherein the air inlet opening ends by a specified amount in front of the end wall of the operating drum adjacent to the unloading opening.
 13. The device according to claim 9, wherein:the closure member for the air inlet opening on the drum housing is coupled to an actuating device by which the closure member can be adjusted between a closed position and an open position, and whereinthe actuating device is designed in such a manner that the closure member can be set to different passage widths.
 14. The device according to claim 13, whereinthe control is designed such that the actuating device of the closure member of the air inlet opening and/or the locking device and the actuating device for the door or the sliding device of the unloading opening and/or the actuating device for the pipe and/or the actuating device for the shut-off member in the intake air duct and/or the outlet air duct can be switched on and off.
 15. The device according to claim 9, wherein:the closure member for the end-side unloading opening of the drum housing is a pivoting door.
 16. The device according to claim 15, whereinthe door of the unloading opening is coupled to a locking device by which the door can be locked and unlocked, and the door of the unloading opening is coupled to an actuating device by which the door can be adjusted between a closed position and an open position.
 17. The device according to claim 9, whereinthe pipe has a guide device, on at least the end section which faces the unloading opening, where the end of the pipe can be guided as far as the unloading opening and can be guided away as far as a rest position lying outside the path of movement of the door of the unloading opening and further comprisingan actuating device,by which the end of the pipe can be moved toward the unloading opening, and by which the pipe can be moved into its rest position.
 18. The device according to claim 9, whereinthe control for the drive of the operating drum is designed in such a manner that the speed of the operating drum can be set to the operating speed and to two different unloading speeds, in the case of the first unloading speed the amount by which the centrifugal force produced on the items of laundry is greater than the force of gravity being greater than in the case of the second unloading speed.
 19. The device according to claim 9, whereinthe control is designed in such a manner that at the end of the unloading process, the operating drum can be set to a further unloading speed which produces a centrifugal force on the items of laundry, which is at most equal to the force of gravity.
 20. A device for unloading items of laundry according to claim 2, comprising:a tumble-dryer having a perforated operating drum and a drum housing with an end-side unloading opening which can be closed by means of a closure member, wherein the drum housing has an air inlet opening on its peripheral wall; a closure member by which the air inlet opening of the drum housing can be closed and can be released, a pipewhich can be connected at one end to a suction conveying system and which can be connected at the other end to the unloading opening of the drum housing, a control for a drive of the operating drum, by which the operating drum can be set to at least two speeds,the first speed of which serves as an operating speed for drying the items of laundry, and the second speed of which, as the unloading speed, produces a centrifugal force on the items of laundry which is greater, by a specified amount, than the force of gravity.
 21. The device according to claim 20, further comprisingthere is at least one shut-off member in at least one of the intake air duct and outlet air duct used in the main treatment process, and the shut-off member is coupled to an actuating device.
 22. A device for unloading items of laundry according to claim 3, comprising:a separating machine which has a perforated operating drum and a drum housing with an end-side unloading opening which can be closed by a closure member, wherein the drum housing has an air inlet opening on its peripheral wall; a closure member by which the air inlet opening of the drum housing can be closed and can be released, a pipewhich can be connected at one end to a suction conveying system and which can be connected at the other end to the unloading opening of the drum housing, a control for a drive of the operating drum, by which the operating drum can be set to at least two speeds,the first speed of which serves as an operating speed for separating the items of laundry, and the second speed of which, as the unloading speed, produces a centrifugal force on the items of laundry which is greater, by a specified amount, than the force of gravitational acceleration.
 23. A device for unloading items of laundry according to claim 4, comprising:a cleaning machine which has a perforated operating drum and a drum housing with an end-side unloading opening which can be closed by a closure member, wherein the drum housing has an air inlet opening on its peripheral wall; a closure member by which the air inlet opening of the drum housing can be closed, in a gas-tight and liquid-tight manner, and can be released, a pipewhich can be connected at one end to a suction conveying system and which can be connected at the other end to the unloading opening of the drum housing, a control for a drive of the operating drum, by which the operating drum can be set to at least two speeds,the first speed of which serves as an operating speed for cleaning the items of laundry, and the second speed of which, as the unloading speed, produces a centrifugal force on the items of laundry which is greater, by a specified amount, than the force of gravitational acceleration.
 24. The device according to claim 23, wherein:the closure member for the end-side unloading opening of the drum housing is a sliding device.
 25. The device according to claim 24, whereinthe sliding device is coupled to an actuating device by which the sliding device can be adjusted between a closed position and an open position.
 26. The device according to claim 23, wherein:the drum housing has a loading opening which can be closed by a closure member the closure member of the loading opening is a pivoting door having an unloading opening the closure member of the unloading opening is a sliding device whose sliding-device housingis arranged directly on the pivoting door.
 27. The device according to claim 23, further comprisinga connecting tube between the inner edge of the unloading opening and its closure member, at least a wall region of the connecting tube rises from the inner edge of the unloading opening as far as the closure member by a specified angle of inclination.
 28. A device according to claim 23, wherein:the drum housing has a loading opening which can be closed by means of a closure member; the closure member of the loading opening is a pivoting door having an unloading opening therein; the closure member of the unloading opening is a sliding device whose sliding-device housing is arranged indirectly on a connecting tube connected to the unloading opening on the pivoting door.
 29. A device according to claim 27, wherein the entire connecting tube rises from the inner edge of the unloading opening. 